


Year of the Bear

by xYoSa



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Cooking, Eating, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Science Boyfriends, Science Bros, Singing, Videogames, domestic life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28483767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xYoSa/pseuds/xYoSa
Summary: …Bruciebear, that is! A 12-chapter (+1) fic depicting the first year of Tony and Bruce’s relationship, shown in one vignette per month. Mostly domestic fluff with a bit of hurt/comfort thrown in.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Tony Stark
Comments: 20
Kudos: 32





	1. January

**Author's Note:**

  * For [heyjupiter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyjupiter/gifts).



> For the lovely heyjupiter! This is the first thing I ever started for science bros, and you were my first ever beta reader for science bros fics. You looked over a couple chapters of this for me over _two years ago_ , and then I never posted it! It’s evolved a bit since then, but it’s about time I shared it lol. So I’m dedicating it to you :D <3

“One minute to midnight!” Thor shouts over the noise in the crowded ballroom where all the Avengers (and several hundred additional guests) are celebrating their first New Year as a team.

Tony moves strategically to stand next to Bruce. This is his chance. When the ball drops, he’s going to use it as an excuse to finally lay a kiss on the good doctor’s mouth. If Bruce kisses him back, _fabulous._ If he doesn’t, Tony can just turn and kiss a few other people around him, pretending like he’s just spreading around the New Year’s joy. It’s a very Tony thing to do, so it shouldn’t draw suspicion.

Although he and Bruce have gotten closer these past few months since Bruce moved into a guest suite in the tower, Tony still isn’t sure whether Bruce feels anything more than friendship. Sure, he’s noticed a sign or two, like that time he saw Bruce in the window reflection staring at his ass, or that smile Bruce seems to reserve just for Tony. But to be fair, a lot of people stare at Tony’s ass when they think he’s not looking. And Tony is basically the only person Bruce works with whose mind is anywhere close to being on par with his own, so those smiles _could_ just be from plain old intellectual satisfaction.

Other signs, like the couple of times when Tony stood close enough to Bruce in the lab for shoulders to brush, and Bruce didn’t move away, are there but still too vague for him to be sure they actually mean anything. In less than a minute, he can finally stop feeling like an awkward teenager and find out for sure.

He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous; he’s never been like this with anyone else he’s had feelings for. But the stakes have never been this high before. He genuinely values Bruce’s friendship, and even though he hopes for more, he’s not willing to risk what they have. Hence his plan to innocently test the waters tonight.

The countdown begins.

“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!”

Tony pointedly doesn’t look at Bruce. He wants it to seem like he chose to kiss him on a whim.

“Six! Five! Four!”

His hands, stuffed casually into his pockets, ball up into sweaty fists.

“Three! Two! One!”

Before Tony can act, he feels a warm hand on his cheek turning his head to the left. And then Bruce’s lips are covering his, and the shouts of “Happy New Year!” raining around them sound muted and far away, and Tony can hardly think because _Bruce_ is kissing _him,_ and it takes a second for him to remember to kiss back, but then he does, and his insides are exploding. And when Bruce brings up his other hand so he’s now cupping both of Tony’s cheeks, Tony actually feels weak at the knees and has to clutch Bruce’s shoulders for support. For the first time in his life, he understands that that’s not just a figure of speech.

As the other attendees’ drunken rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ concludes, Tony reluctantly pulls back and looks at Bruce. There’s confetti in their hair and the music and chaos around them are deafening, but Tony hardly notices it.

“What was that?” he asks, slightly breathless, heart still fluttering in his chest.

“That was…something I wish I’d done a while ago,” Bruce answers with a shy smile.

“You and me both,” says Tony, completely charmed by Bruce’s shyness considering the bold move he just made. “How’d you know I’d kiss back?”

Bruce shrugs. “I just had a feeling. Have for a while. And just now, you were pretty obvious when you came over here at the one-minute mark.”

Tony is starting to get his wits back. “Well you kinda stole my thunder there. This was supposed to be my move, and you messed it all up.”

Bruce grins. “You get the next one, then.”

And Tony does, pulling Bruce in for another kiss.

“Whoa, whoa, hold up!” exclaims Sam, who’s standing nearby and has just noticed them. They break from their kiss and look at him just as he shouts “Yes!” with a triumphant fist pump in the air. “I called it! I had them kissing at midnight on New Year’s! Barton! Where are you? You owe me fifty bucks!”

Clint arrives at Sam’s side, drink in hand, and shoots Tony and Bruce an exasperated look. “Damnit, you two! You couldn’t have waited another _day?”_

Bruce is blushing furiously at having so much attention drawn to them. Tony is characteristically unperturbed; he just gives Bruce a lopsided grin and one more chaste kiss, then wraps an arm around his shoulder and leads him toward the exit. He briefly lifts his hand from Bruce’s shoulder to wave in Sam and Clint’s general direction as they go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: A Valentine's Day declaration.


	2. February

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My informal goal for this fic was to keep each chapter brief, under a thousand words, and I’ve already failed with chapter 2. Sorry not sorry lol!

Bruce takes another bite of the delicious tiramisu and looks across the table at Tony lovingly. Really, Tony went above and beyond today for their Valentine’s Day date.

First, he woke Bruce up by bringing fresh croissants and cappuccinos to his bedside. They shared them side-by-side in bed, laughing as they tried to keep the flaky pastries from making a mess, and then Bruce went to his desk to pull out the card and box of chocolates he’d bought for Tony. Then, after ravishing each other for the next hour and a half, Bruce was prepared to spend the rest of the day relaxing with Tony, just the two of them with no responsibilities.

But Tony was just getting started. Half an hour later, they were departing in a helicopter from the tower’s helipad on a scenic flight to Cape Cod, where a light picnic lunch with champagne was served to them in a beautiful, heated gazebo on the empty beach (“Don’t overeat,” Tony warned, “I’ve got dinner plans for us later”).

Upon their return, the helicopter was permitted to land in the north meadow of Central Park, where they departed for a romantic ride throughout the park in one of the fanciest rickshaws Bruce had ever seen, as they snuggled under blankets and sipped hot chocolate in the cold February air.

Now, they’re at La Scatola di Legno, one of the fanciest restaurants in New York, for a romantic dinner in a secluded booth by a window overlooking the East River and the lights of Long Island beyond. 

Bruce is exhausted, but it was really an incredible day. Tony said he wanted to do all of this not just because it was Valentine’s Day, but also just past their six-week anniversary.

And six amazing weeks it has been. Bruce isn’t normally so forward, but he couldn’t resist that little New Year’s move he pulled. After going his whole life never getting what he wants, and wanting Tony more than anything, and being _sure_ that Tony wanted him back…it made the whole thing completely irresistible.

He sets down his fork and reaches out to give Tony’s hand a squeeze.

“Thank you, Tony, again, for such a wonderful day.”

“My pleasure,” Tony replies, and he squeezes Bruce’s hand back before taking a sip of his dessert wine. But then his expression changes to mildly disappointed and he adds, “It’s just a shame it was too foggy to do the detour to sightsee over Boston on the way back. But we’ll do it next time.”

“It’s okay, really. Today was already so amazing.” Bruce assures him. “ _You’re_ amazing.”

“Yeah?” Tony asks, giving Bruce a sidelong look, and Bruce is surprised to note that his expression is slightly tinged with uncertainty. It’s as if the question wasn’t entirely rhetorical, as if Tony actually seems concerned that Bruce might not have had a good time today.

“Yeah,” Bruce replies sincerely, giving him a reassuring smile.

And it’s the truth. He honestly did find today’s adventures a lot of fun, even though it _was_ a lot for one day, at least for him. Tony’s energy sometimes seems boundless compared to Bruce’s. Today was hardly more eventful than an average busy day for Tony, with all his various business, charity, and PR obligations. And while their action-packed day wouldn’t typically be Bruce’s first choice for how to spend a holiday with his boyfriend, he’s always willing to go along with Tony’s adventurous ideas.

“I’m glad,” says Tony, picking up his wine glass for another sip. “I thought you might not enjoy the helicopter ride, since I know how you feel about riding around in a pressurized metal container. Though the helicopter wasn’t pressurized, at least. And the beach wasn’t too cold for you? The gazebo was pretty toasty, but some of those gusts were kind of nippy—anyway.”

He stops talking and takes a bite of his panna cotta, apparently realizing that he’s rambling a bit. Bruce looks at him curiously. Tony isn’t normally such a perfectionist, so why does he seem so concerned about today being perfect?

Something occurs to Bruce then, but the thought seems almost too ridiculous to think. Could…could Tony be feeling insecure about their relationship? Insecure about _Bruce?_ That Bruce may not enjoy being with him?

He almost laughs at the idea—if anyone should be feeling insecure here, it's Bruce, about dating _Iron Man_ —but then a stray memory suddenly comes to him: a story that Tony told him about a giant stuffed bunny that he bought Pepper for Christmas one time. Tony didn’t say it outright when he was telling Bruce the story, but he’d been very obviously feeling insecure about his relationship with Pepper at the time. And for good reason, as it turned out. The bunny seemed to be a subconscious attempt on Tony’s part to get some reassurance about where he stood. So all these amazing things Tony planned for him and Bruce today… it does kind of seem like he’s feeling insecure about his relationship with Bruce.

Well, that won’t do. He certainly has no reason to feel that way about _him._

Although…maybe Tony sort of does have reason to feel that way, Bruce reasons. Because as bold as Bruce was when he made the first move on New Year’s Eve, his more reserved nature was quick to return afterward. He knows Tony likes that about him, thinks his shyness is cute, and doesn’t mind making up for Bruce’s sometimes-limited dialog with extra chatter of his own, or making up for Bruce’s lack of spontaneity by taking the lead with some spontaneity of his own.

But apparently, even cool, confident Tony needs reassurance sometimes. Well, Bruce is certainly in a position to provide him that. And the way to do so is obvious: he just needs to make another bold move, and tell his boyfriend something that he’s been wanting to say for a while now anyway. He doesn’t even know why he’s been putting it off. It’s just…hard to put himself out there sometimes, when it’s often ended badly in the past.

But Tony deserves to hear it—even if Bruce is completely wrong about Tony’s motivations for their date today.

He makes a decision. He sets his fork down and looks at Tony, who hasn’t met his eyes since he cut off his rambling a moment ago. 

He swallows down his nervousness. “Time to give you my Valentine’s present,” he says with a shy smile.

Tony looks back at him and squints a little in confusion. (It’s so adorable when he does that.) “You already did, this morning.”

“Yeah, but this one is kind of spur of the moment.”

“Okay…” Tony is definitely listening now. Bruce doesn’t say things like ‘spur of the moment’ very much.

Bruce pushes aside his dessert plate and takes Tony’s free hand in both of his own. “You know I’m not always the greatest at saying what I’m thinking or feeling.”

Tony nods, still not quite following.

So Bruce just goes for it. “Tony. I love you.”

The confusion disappears from Tony’s face, and his lips part in surprise. He looks genuinely touched. And speechless. That gives Bruce the confidence to plow on.

“I’ve loved you for a long time. Since before we even got together. Honestly? Since the day we met. It was mainly platonic back then,” he clarifies, “but still. I loved you because you treated me so… _normally._ So _decently._ You saw past all the things about me that other people…they just can’t see past, ever. No,” he corrects himself, “you didn’t see _past_ it, you—you _embraced_ it. And truthfully…I started having feelings for you the minute you shocked me with that arc igniter.” He breaks into a little embarrassed laugh at that admission.

Tony huffs a little laugh himself, though his eyes are starting to well up a bit. He blinks a few times.

“You developed feelings for me over _that?”_ he asks, his joking tone betrayed by the emotional expression on his face.

“Yeah,” replies Bruce with a little shrug. “I developed feelings for you for being exactly who you are.”

“Bruce…“ Tony begins, biting his lower lip and looking like he might cry right here in the restaurant. Instead, he breaks into a teary-eyed laugh and shakes his head. “I love you too. _God,_ I love you too.”

He slides right up next to Bruce on the semi-circular bench of the booth, and pulls him close for a long, warm kiss. When he pulls away, it’s Bruce’s turn to feel teary-eyed. Tony truly is the best thing to ever happen to him.

“Best Valentine’s gift _ever_ ,” Tony says with a grin, his playfulness returning despite his still-misty eyes.

Bruce gives a shy smile in response, which makes Tony grin wider.

“C’mon,” Tony says, holding up a hand to get their server’s attention, “Let’s get out of here. I know you’ve already had me once today, but I think there’s still time left for a round two.”

And just like that, whatever fatigue Bruce was feeling from their long, eventful day suddenly vanishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this chapter makes a brief reference to IM3, I wanted to mention here that in this fic (as with all of my science boyfriends fics that are based in canon) Tony and Pepper were a couple in the past, but split up amicably for unspecified reasons. But they are on great terms and still care about each other and see each other all the time. That is all.
> 
> Up next: St. Patrick's Day hurt/comfort.


End file.
